An Eclectic Collection of Fun and Effective Builds

[Benny89]

That sounds like an utter blast Benny89, seriously that concept is definitely something I need to try for my next long term game :)

Thanks, I really like the whole idea from both roleplay and mechanical perspective. This build has very few weakness, being beast in melee, AOE, support and anti-magic fields while also having access to the strongest spells in game (albeit late, but still). The only thing I wish I could improve is AC. Having access to Shield spell would be a blast, but sadly without multiclassing there is no way I can add it and delaying all Arcana Cleric goodies by more than 1 level seems like too much for me.

We could finish it with 2 levels of other class, but at this point where you are level 18 and got Wish there is no point about worrying about AC really.

Aberrant Dragonmark would give us +1 CON and Shield spell to spelllist, but that means we can't have Dragon Mark, which removes Counterspell and Bigby's Hand from us. I just can't imagine Arcana Cleric without Counterspell, it's just says "ARCANA CLERIC!!!!".

However, if your party will have someone with Counterspell already then you may think about this feat instead.

So Alternative Build then would be:

Variant Human, 1 Druid/19 Arcana Cleric, whith Aberrant Dragonmark (Shield spell) at start from free feat at level 1. Which at level 2 would give us (because Druid) both Absord Elements and Shield spell. But we lose counterspell.

ASI after that same, level 5: +2 WIS, level 9: WC, level 13: +2 WIS, level 17: RES (CON).

Pick your poison I guess :))

[Wasp]

So this uses the Mark of Sentinel Human because the Azorius Senate doesn't technically exist in Eberron?

[1Pirate]

This is pretty close to Ludic's Arcana cleric build. It just uses different resources to grab most of the same goodies.

This is the only non-Unearthed Arcana thing I've banned while DMing(nobody uses Ravenica at my table).

You want your filthy Counterspell, you take levels in an arcane caster like everyone else you...filth! 🤬

[Benny89]

This is pretty close to Ludic's Arcana cleric build. It just uses different resources to grab most of the same goodies.

This is the only non-Unearthed Arcana thing I've banned while DMing(nobody uses Ravenica at my table).

You want your filthy Counterspell, you take levels in an arcane caster like everyone else you...filth! 🤬

Yes, of course it's inspired by classic Arcana build, but I just never forgave them that they didn't give him counterspell. It's just so good on Arcana Cleric who already has Dispel and Spell Breaker and this also fill our reaction action (if we fight casters and don't do too much OAs). I love when build has something for every action. Bonus Action: Spiritual Weapon, Action: boosted SCAG cantrips and Reaction: Counterspell, Concentration: Spirit Guardians. You are beast on battlefield.

Also this build gives Absorb Elements which I think is great spell to have on front line (which is Arcana Cleric) and Good Berries is great way to save healing spells between combat. Fearie Fire before Spirit Guariands is also best conc spell.

Aberrant Dragon Mark version of this build + 1 level Druid would also add Shield spell + Absorb Elements, which also great combo. We lose Counterspell though.

But I love counterspell :). And Bigby's Hand on Cleric is great as it's one of my fav spells in DnD.

Also it's Eberron, not Ravnica.

[1Pirate]

Also it's Eberron, not Ravnica.

Yes, I know. This was referring to the fact that Ravnica backgrounds are the other means for divine casters to get Counterspell but I never explicitly banned them because no one uses GGtR at the table, but they do use Eberron RftLW.

[Lysimarchos]

Next build will probably be one of the following:

- A build I've taken to referring to as "the soulknife." A stealthy, unarmored frontliner Eldritch Knight / War Wizard build that's durable, sticky, high DPR, lots of utility, and about as gear-independent as it gets. They basically summon all of their armaments using abilities like Mage Armor and Shadow Blade. One of the upshots of using Mage Armor is that you can get the AC of plate while using a Dex build, and retain full stealth capabilities. Combines great with the "Shape Element" and Minor Illusion cantrips since they don't have Verbal components.

- A Shadar-Kai Sharpshooter Samurai, because I got asked about it earlier. A simple yet very reliable DPR core for any party that scales incredibly well with buffs/party synergy. I consider Samurai to be one of the Fighter subclasses with the highest potential (along with Battlemaster and Eldritch Knight), and the post would highlight why along with DPR analysis and the like.

- the Cha/Int blaster Wizard build I'm currently playing in a long-term campaign (running from tier 1-4). Basically my take on the so-called "Nuclear Wizard" build which can potentially out-blast Sorlocks, come online faster, and retain all the versatility of being a Wizard. And doesn't require Coffeelocking or anything of that sort. The one I'm playing right now is an Asmodeus Tiefling, but the optimized version would probably be something else, like Yuan-Ti (for whom the Cha/Int typing is actually what you want for a change).

- A Shifter Inquisitor of the Silver Flame. A blaster/hunter Cleric from Eberron that brings a lot of damage and detection abilities.

If any of those sound interesting lemme know.

Since you already posted the Nuclear Wizard a while ago, can you post one of those other builds as well?

[Corran]

Since you already posted the Nuclear Wizard a while ago, can you post one of those other builds as well?

Voting for the shifter inquisitor! :)

[Lysimarchos]

Voting for the shifter inquisitor! :)

I'd like to see that one or the Soulknife.

[LudicSavant]

Since you already posted the Nuclear Wizard a while ago, can you post one of those other builds as well?

Okay, I'll do those! And also a few more surprises, too! Here's one to start. More to come soon (probably tomorrow, in fact).

Okay, I'll bite. You wanna plop this one in your Eclectic Builds thread?

Best news of 2020.

Alright, Healing Wizard! Not only can Wizards be a healer, but they can be a damned good one. We're not talking a cut rate off-healer like a Thief Rogue that took the Healer feat, oh no, we're talking about a character who can outheal most Clerics and still have time left over to throw Fireballs and Webs and Walls of Force and what-have-you. A full blown main party healer that can throw down 4 digits of healing a day, burst heal in combat, cure status effects, mitigate like a king, repeatedly yo-yo not just the party but themselves, the works. Heck, they even get infinite non-combat healing at tier 4, because why not, you're a Wizard.

Build 10: The Jorasco Physician


Halfling (Mark of Healing) Life Cleric 1 / Transmuter Wizard 19
Stats: Str 8, Dex 14, Con 15, Int 14, Wis 14, Cha 10
ASIs: Int 16 @5, Int 18 @9, Int 20 @13, Resilient and 16 Con @17, Alert @20
Cantrips (Wizard): Toll the Dead, Ray of Frost, Minor Illusion, Prestidigitation, Shape Water
Cantrips (Cleric): Guidance, Light, Mending
Tool Proficiencies: One of them should be Herbalism.

Alright so, as is often the case for prepared caster builds, you have a lot of tricks up your sleeve... so many in fact that I can't properly list them all in a reasonable-length post. As such I'm mostly going to be focusing on what's unique about this build, though you should remember that this is still very much a controller Wizard, too. You can do this and all the usual god wizard things.

Here’s a list of some of your noteworthy healing/mitigation tools:

1) You are exceptionally excellent at using potions. Not only can you make them with Herbalism, but unlike most characters you can use multiple ones per round, without even using up your Action. Heck, you can even yo-yo yourself.

First, there’s your Familiar, who can deliver potions without using your Action, swiftly flying to wherever they need to be and administering the potion to an ally (per the DMG rules for doing so).

Second, there’s Unseen Servant, a ritual you can keep up more or less indefinitely due to its hour duration / no Concentration requirement. They can hand out potions too, using your bonus actions. Especially good at lower levels before you start getting really good bonus actions.

Those are the most noteworthy two, but summoned creatures and animated dead (if you’re into that sort of thing) can do it too. And when you get a Simulacrum, their Familiar and/or Unseen Servant can do it too.

Yes, this costs a little money, but it’s well worth it and can really get you out of a pinch with some surprisingly high burst healing, *or* yo-yoing multiple people *or* just keeping people healthy while simultaneously doing normal Wizard things. Even if you're impoverished and can only use this occasionally, having a few potions in your back pocket is a great safety net.

As early as level 2, for example, you can cast your racial Cure Wounds with your Action, Unseen Seer potion with your bonus action, and Familiar potion with the familiar’s action, all in the same turn, for a grand total of 4d4+1d8+9 (23.5) healing that you have the option of splitting between 3 targets. That’s basically a 100% burst heal for 1-2 characters, and it didn’t even cost you a single spell slot!

Remember, you can do this potion stuff with any Wizard. Use it. It’s great.

2) Conventional Healing Staples + Disciple of Life.
The Mark of Healing expands your spell list, allowing you to get all of the following as Wizard spells:

1st cure wounds, healing word
2nd lesser restoration, prayer of healing
3rd aura of vitality, mass healing word
4th aura of purity, aura of life
5th greater restoration

So, you get Healing Word, Cure Wounds, Lesser Restoration, Greater Restoration, Mass Healing Word, and Prayer of Healing… pretty much all the Cleric standbys… except you can stack them with the Wizard’s superior resource and action economy advantages, and of course Disciple of Life.

It also gives you...

3) Aura of Vitality + Disciple of Life. This is what the Life Cleric / Lore Bards kept spending their Magical Secrets on, and now you’re getting it on a full Wizard chassis!

Even if you just use it out of combat, this is 120 hit points spread around as you please (e.g. avoiding waste from overhealing) for a 3rd level slot. That’s incredibly efficient.

In combat, it’s using your bonus action for 2d6+5 (12) healing per round, which of course comes on top of whatever your other actions are doing. That’s a lot of healing to have every round as a bonus action. Remember, healing never misses; this can really cut into Team Monster’s DPR. It's not too unusual for it to be enough to counter all damage from a fight, to all party members, and maybe even have healing left over to get rid of damage incurred in previous fights, at least if your party isn't just dumping AC and being completely reckless. It's basically the next best thing to pre-nerf Healing Spirit.

4) Arcane Recovery and other resources. Simply put, you have more spell slots than a Cleric, which means more healing, control, mitigation, etc.

Actually, you have a lot of things that stretch your healing resources longer. Contingency, Action-free potions, Panacea, a free Cure Wounds and Lesser Restoration from your race, and eventually…

5) Infinite Healing. With Spell Mastery, you can pick up Healing Word for 1d4+8 (10.5), as a bonus action, at will.

That means infinite, slot-free healing out of combat. And all of the resources that would otherwise have gone to non-combat healing being redirected elsewhere.

It also means getting non-Concentration healing almost as high as DoL Aura of Vitality whenever you’re not spending your Action on leveled spells (for example, when slinging cantrips).

It also means that your Simulacrum does it too. So for example just doing that and Toll the Dead is 8d12 damage and 2d4+16 healing per round.

6) Racial Spells: You basically get a free 1st level and 2nd level spell slot from your race, which extends your resource efficiency a bit further.

The first is Cure Wounds, which is usually a poor use of a spell prepared but great for a freebie. To put it into perspective, it’s worth 9.5 hit points (or 19 when your Simulacrum gets it). Compare that to the Hill Dwarf getting 1 hit point / level and suddenly it sounds like a pretty good deal.

The second is Lesser Restoration, which is a lovely ‘seat belt’ spell, by which I mean you won’t always want it but when you do, you really do. It’s always nice to have someone in the party with this prepared.

7) Simulacrum. The biggest power spike spell in the game; this allows you to spend money for actions and spell slots at a rate that is a complete steal. Anything you do can now be doubled in a pinch (and your resourceless stuff can be doubled all the time). Even comes with its own Familiar. And can have different spells prepared from you.

8) Life Transference + DoL: A healing spell all Wizards get. 8d8+5 (41) is a big burst heal for a level 3 slot, which of course can stack with your bonus action or minion action heals for numbers comparable to the 6th level Heal spell, but split between multiple characters if you feel like it.

You basically can take someone from 0-full this way, though you take 4d8 yourself when you do so. Of course, your third level slots have a lot of really great options, so this has stiff competition and might not see much use, despite being a solid option.

9) Soul Cage + DoL: This spell lets you heal 2d8+8 hit points as a bonus action, 6 times a day (total 102 hp), no Concentration required. It also can be used for a variety of great information gathering effects, and an alright ability to influence d20 rolls (only alright because it requires a bonus action beforehand). The default fluff is Evil, but it’s really easy to refluff it as something that isn’t (I did so for my Wizard that was an acolyte of Wee Jas, who in my version is basically the psychopomp of the pantheon).

10) Contingency It lets you cast a 5th level spell, without an action, and with a spell slot you spent *last week* instead of on dungeoneering day.

Stacks with all your other action economy and resource shenanigans. Heck, even a Contingent Cure Wounds can pop you up to (average) 36 hit points automatically when you get reduced to zero.

11) Restore Life. If this has a tradeoff compared to other healer builds, it’s that you don’t get a way to revive dead PCs until level 15. Still, you do have one. And before that, you at least can get Gentle Repose so that you can cart a teammate’s body back to town for Revivify (it shouldn’t be that hard to find a 5th level spellcaster).

12) Panacea. Once or twice a day (because your Simulacrum makes transmuter’s stones too), you can fully heal any character’s HP, and remove all curses, diseases, and poisons affecting a creature.

This is like having the 9th level Power Word Heal, twice, without using your spell slots. Except it’s not even a spell, so you can totally cast a bonus action spell on the same turn! Yeah, it uses up your transmuter’s stone for the day, but it’s well worth it for what is essentially extra level 9 spells.

13) Transmuter’s Stone. Improve kiting, Con saves, or get Resistance to the damage type of whatever you’re fighting. You don’t even have to pick just one, you get to switch each time you cast a spell, so you can adapt to the situation. And when you eventually get a Simulacrum, they get to make one too.

14) Way better reactions. Clerics don’t get any reaction spells at all, Druids only get Absorb Elements, and Bards need to spend Magical Secrets to get theirs. You get all the best reaction spells, including Shield, Counterspell, Absorb Elements, and Feather Fall, all of which are great damage mitigators

15) You are not a squishy, d6 HD be damned. The idea that Wizards have to be squishy is even more wrong than the idea that Wizards can’t heal. The difference between a d6 and d10 HD is just 40 hit points by level 20 (or 38 in the case of this build, since you start with a Cleric level). That’s worth less than the effective hit point value of a single low-mid level spell slot for you.

Meanwhile, you’ve got armor, shield, and all the defensive spells that make everyone say an Eldritch Knight is the tankiest Fighter, except with way more spell slots. And access to higher level defensive spells. And healing that vastly outstrips Second Wind and can just repeatedly burst yourself to full.

Now I’m not setting out to build a primary tank build here, but you can totally switch hit for the frontliner to relieve some pressure and spread damage around the party (which makes AoE healing more efficient). Or just position more aggressively, without worrying about needing to spend actions or slots escaping if enemies manage to engage on you.

Also, your defenses help your Concentration (you don't make a save if the enemy misses. Also, Absorb Elements can lower Concentration DCs) and spell slots (you don't need to cast Mage Armor, and you'll need Shield less often if they miss your base AC more).

16) Making it safe to rest. This is another thing that Wizards already do -- using things like Leomund’s Tiny Hut or Rope Trick or Alarm to make it easier for the party to rest, and thus heal up and replenish resources. That’s healing too.

17) All the crazy @#$% that control Wizards normally do to make Team Monster’s rate of damage slow to a crawl, whether that's polymorphing people into 158 hp Giant Apes, trapping foes in Walls of Force, making strategic use of vision blockers, whatever. And the slower damage comes in, the more effective healing is, pound for pound.

So yeah, like I said, not only are Wizards able to fill the healer role, they do so quite well, with efficient action economy, burst, and sustained healing, and tons of control and mitigation.

---

Additional Notes

We come online immediately, and only get stronger as we progress. At level 2 we're already a strong healer due to our slot efficiency (Arcane Recovery + Racial Cure Wounds slot + No need for Mage Armor and less frequent need for Shield + potion use + Disciple of Life) and action economy (potentially able to heal with our action, bonus action, and familiar's action. All in the same turn if we like).

At level 20 we have literally infinite noncombat healing, massive burst heals (including 2x 'Power Word Heal'-level effects per day that don't even eat our spell slots), efficient in-combat healing options, multiple sources of self-yo-yo healing, and the ability to cure pretty much any status. In addition to, you know, being level 20 Wizards and all the nice things that come with that.

And we have a smooth progression between point A and point B.

Wondering what to do with Minor Alchemy? Here's some fun ideas:
- Carve durable substances with a precision and speed that would be impossible for even a master smith by turning them into a more easily workable substance, and working that before the duration expires. Consider taking up a tool proficiency to go with this, and you can create very fine metallic or precious stone goods in a tiny fraction of the time, without even having access to a forge. You can whittle a chunk of metal into whatever tool you want on demand. As well as smuggling weapons into places that don't want you to have weapons.
- Get through locks or chains, more quietly than Knock, and even if the prison guards took away your spell components.
- Scam people by temporarily turning less valuable materials into far more valuable ones. Can combine with the carving above to make fake priceless art objects. I don't recommend just outright selling these (since in a magical world rich merchants are likely to know this is possible and institute an hour wait or some such countermeasure), but instead combining it with traditional con artist techniques. Someone's about to miss the opportunity of a lifetime!
- Transmute a very heavy material into a very light one, throw it or launch it from something (maybe even the Catapult spell), then end Concentration mid-flight. How effective this is is a DM judgment, but in real life the forces involved could get extremely large, enough to smash reinforced walls and such.
- Silver your weapons if you're going to be fighting something vulnerable to that.
- Collapse structures by turning the base of load bearing pillars / support structures into a material that can't support the weight.

We are pretty good at ability checks all around, thanks to Halfling Luck + a well-rounded statline + Guidance, not to mention bonuses to Herbalism and Medicine from Mark of Healing. Remember that Guidance is a bigger bonus than Expertise in tier 1. You can further toss in the Skill Empowerment spell later, for more skillmonkeying. Your familiar really helps out too. Among other things, they're a scout with Darkvision and a whopping 18 passive perception (with Keen Senses), equivalent to a 16 Wis Cleric with the Observant feat. And of course the Wizard is just oozing amazing utility spells.

We are extra good at Herbalism and Medicine without particularly trying to be, because of our race. For example for Herbalism we get a whopping Int + Prof + Halfling Luck + Guidance + Mark bonus (so, +11+2d4+Rerolling 1s). This means we should familiarize ourselves with the uses of these skills, since we're basically always gonna ace checks with them. In the case of Herbalism, you can find various ideas for ways to use it in XGtE, the most notable of which is of course crafting 25gp healing potions. In the case of Medicine, this skill is oft maligned because people rightly point out that the ability to stabilize people is basically worthless since Healing Kits do that without a check. However, skills needn't be limited to on-the-book uses; I suggest seeing if you can use it for forensics ("how long has this man been dead? What killed him?) and as an additional knowledge skill ("This kind of monster inflicts these kinds of poisonous wounds, nasty things, I had to learn how to treat them").

Use your rituals. Try to always have at least one going. Remember, you can still move around and such while casting rituals.

As for saving throws, we don't really have a clear "weak link" save to target, thanks to Halfling Luck + a well-rounded statline + proficiency in Wis, Cha, and Con saves and Int as a primary main stat. And of course stuff that mitigates the impact on failing saves, like vision blockers (many effects require enemies to see you), elemental Resistance effects, Counterspell, status cures, Contingency, etc.

We get 5 extra spells prepared and 3 extra cantrips from our Cleric dip. You get Cure Wounds and Bless prepared from your Domain, then 3 more. Good options to prep from the Cleric list are Protection from Evil and Good, Healing Word, Sanctuary, Shield of Faith, and (at least until your Int outscales your Wis at 5), Command.

For cantrips, we obviously are going to take Guidance and spam it at every opportunity for bonuses to skills and initiative checks. And then we can grab two utility cantrips that don’t care about your Wisdom, like Light and Mending.

For Wizard cantrips, I recommend Toll the Dead, maybe another attack cantrip like Ray of Frost or Create Bonfire (if you've got a grappler/Repelling Blaster/Booming Blader or the like with you), and your choice of utility cantrips. I picked Prestidigitation, Minor Illusion, and Shape Water, because I like them both mechanically and thematically (because they’d all be really useful for a doctor). I don’t care which of these you take first, as long as one of them is Toll the Dead.

One of the downsides of the Mark of Healing halfling is that it doesn't have an Int bonus, but that's okay, it's still worth it. Early on, keep an eye out for spells that are just as good with a little less Int. For example, Magic Missile doesn't need to roll attack or make someone fail a save, and is one of the best single target damage spells in a level 1 and level 2 slot (it outdamages Scorching Ray on average unless an enemy's AC is very low, or you're getting Advantage on all the attacks). But don't be too picky about this; it's just a +1, you can still take whatever spells you want.

Aura of Vitality doesn't need you to see, so Concentration-free vision blockers like Pyrotechnics are even better than usual. This also synergizes with Alert.

---

Variants

• You can turn any Wizard subclass into a healing build using the technique shown here, not just Transmuter. I only picked them because they're further specialized in that regard and they don't get a lot of screentime on these forums.
• The core of this build -- being a Wizard healer -- can actually work with any subclass! I just used Transmuter because it's rarely played and gives us a way to raise the dead, plus some extra healing abilities. But seriously, want to do this as an Evoker, Abjurer, Necromancer, Diviner, or War Wizard? You absolutely can. In fact, Evocation or Abjuration will save you money on picking up the Mark of Healing spells. Conjuration can make your Concentration unbreakable, and then you can just kinda… face-tank things. Necromancer can make every single Animated minion carry a potion. There's fun stuff to do.
• Instead of starting with 15 Con and 14 Int, you could take 15 Int and an Int-based half-feat like Keen Mind at 5.
• Instead of starting with 15 Con, you could start with 14 and make your statline even more well rounded. You could also switch out Res(Con) for whatever you want, too (after all, you can still get the proficiency from your Transmuter's Stone, Res:Con just frees you up to give it to someone else).
• If you roll for stats, you might have more space for ASIs. In that case, some options are Lucky, War Caster, and plain old +2 Con ASIs (which I prefer over Tough).
• As always, the power creep that is Ravnica Backgrounds exists. Selesnya is a pretty good pick for Warding Bond and Plant Growth. Dimir and Orzhov add good spells, too.
• Post-Tasha's update: This build guide was written pre-Tasha's. Post-Tasha's, you can swap out the stats for the Mark of Healing Halfling from +Wis/Dex to +Int/Con, allowing you to start with +3 Int and fit an extra feat into the progression to boot. There are lots of nice new feats to consider, too.

[Miele]

I'd like to ask you advice on building or I should say "modifying" a character for level 6-7 with the goal of reaching (eventually) the level cap. Levelling takes quite a while at my table, so I'd prefer not having to wait until T3 to have a fully fleshed out class.
The character was born as a nuclear wizard (currently warlock hexblade 1/ evocation wizard 5), but both me and the DM thought it was not appropriate for the campaign we were playing, having a group fully packed with martials that are not very experienced players (for most of them it's their first D&D campaign), stealing their thunder on single target damage was not appropriate, so we accepted the idea of retconning the character story/multiclassing a bit.

A few premises: the party is large, with a Light domain cleric, a berserker barbarian, an assassin, a spell-less ranger, two fighters, one is a champion and the other a battlemaster.
I'm a gnome and I want to be primarily a wizard, this must remain. I wanted to multiclass to have more cantrips (and maybe some armor proficiency), because honestly I love Mold Earth and Shape Water, and no respectable Wizard can be without Prestidigitation and Mage Hand, so the warlock level was giving me 2 extra cantrips for attacking (I picked Create Bonfire and Toll the Dead, not specifically from the warlock list of course).

I thought about the Artificer, but for me it's totally new, never played one, never DM'ed one and I'm actually starting to read something about it. Pros are certainly that it's thematic with gnomes and it uses INT as main stat, but aside from that? What do you think could be thematically good? I'd rather be Art 1/Wiz 5 for now, but can eventually take more Artificer levels later on if it's cool in terms of utility and RP potential.

The setting of the campaign is Mystara, but pretty much what can go in Forgotten, can also work there. I know the Artificer is an Eberron class, but we certainly can fit that in Mystara without too many problems.

[Benny89]

I'd like to ask you advice on building or I should say "modifying" a character for level 6-7 with the goal of reaching (eventually) the level cap. Levelling takes quite a while at my table, so I'd prefer not having to wait until T3 to have a fully fleshed out class.
The character was born as a nuclear wizard (currently warlock hexblade 1/ evocation wizard 5), but both me and the DM thought it was not appropriate for the campaign we were playing, having a group fully packed with martials that are not very experienced players (for most of them it's their first D&D campaign), stealing their thunder on single target damage was not appropriate, so we accepted the idea of retconning the character story/multiclassing a bit.

A few premises: the party is large, with a Light domain cleric, a berserker barbarian, an assassin, a spell-less ranger, two fighters, one is a champion and the other a battlemaster.
I'm a gnome and I want to be primarily a wizard, this must remain. I wanted to multiclass to have more cantrips (and maybe some armor proficiency), because honestly I love Mold Earth and Shape Water, and no respectable Wizard can be without Prestidigitation and Mage Hand, so the warlock level was giving me 2 extra cantrips for attacking (I picked Create Bonfire and Toll the Dead, not specifically from the warlock list of course).

I thought about the Artificer, but for me it's totally new, never played one, never DM'ed one and I'm actually starting to read something about it. Pros are certainly that it's thematic with gnomes and it uses INT as main stat, but aside from that? What do you think could be thematically good? I'd rather be Art 1/Wiz 5 for now, but can eventually take more Artificer levels later on if it's cool in terms of utility and RP potential.

The setting of the campaign is Mystara, but pretty much what can go in Forgotten, can also work there. I know the Artificer is an Eberron class, but we certainly can fit that in Mystara without too many problems.

I would just got with 1 Artificer/19 Wizard of any kind. I recommend for this party Evocation, because they will be all in melee so it's good to throw fireball that can ignore friendly fire.

Artificer is good if you go fully in this class, not when you multi it. You are better just taking 1 level dip for Medium Armors, Shields, Ferie Fire, Cure Wounds etc + CON save proficiency which saves you ASI.

Then just maximize your INT to 20 and work from there. You will have AC 19, CON save proficiency and could good extra spells from Artificer to use.

So 1 Artificer/19 Evocation Wizard from me.

Your party will love you for Fearie Fire spell on enemies (advantage for all that martial classes) + you throwing fireballs on enemies without burning friends :).

[Klorox]

I'd like to ask you advice on building or I should say "modifying" a character for level 6-7 with the goal of reaching (eventually) the level cap. Levelling takes quite a while at my table, so I'd prefer not having to wait until T3 to have a fully fleshed out class.
The character was born as a nuclear wizard (currently warlock hexblade 1/ evocation wizard 5), but both me and the DM thought it was not appropriate for the campaign we were playing, having a group fully packed with martials that are not very experienced players (for most of them it's their first D&D campaign), stealing their thunder on single target damage was not appropriate, so we accepted the idea of retconning the character story/multiclassing a bit.

A few premises: the party is large, with a Light domain cleric, a berserker barbarian, an assassin, a spell-less ranger, two fighters, one is a champion and the other a battlemaster.
I'm a gnome and I want to be primarily a wizard, this must remain. I wanted to multiclass to have more cantrips (and maybe some armor proficiency), because honestly I love Mold Earth and Shape Water, and no respectable Wizard can be without Prestidigitation and Mage Hand, so the warlock level was giving me 2 extra cantrips for attacking (I picked Create Bonfire and Toll the Dead, not specifically from the warlock list of course).

I thought about the Artificer, but for me it's totally new, never played one, never DM'ed one and I'm actually starting to read something about it. Pros are certainly that it's thematic with gnomes and it uses INT as main stat, but aside from that? What do you think could be thematically good? I'd rather be Art 1/Wiz 5 for now, but can eventually take more Artificer levels later on if it's cool in terms of utility and RP potential.

The setting of the campaign is Mystara, but pretty much what can go in Forgotten, can also work there. I know the Artificer is an Eberron class, but we certainly can fit that in Mystara without too many problems.

I agree with the artificer 1 level dip, and maybe mold yourself after the god wizard type.

That being said, I can’t remember what level it comes at, but there is an alchemist ability that gives you INT times per rest lesser restoration. That’s not a wonderful ability on its own, but that berserker barbarian will be your best friend if you go that route.

[stoutstien]

I agree with the artificer 1 level dip, and maybe mold yourself after the god wizard type.

That being said, I can’t remember what level it comes at, but there is an alchemist ability that gives you INT times per rest lesser restoration. That’s not a wonderful ability on its own, but that berserker barbarian will be your best friend if you go that route.

unfortunately exhaustion is only removed by greater restoration which is a much higher level spell and has a costly material component that is consumed.

[AdAstra]

unfortunately exhaustion is only removed by greater restoration which is a much higher level spell and has a costly material component that is consumed.

This is true. However, the Alchemist subclass of Artificer, starting at level 15, can cast Greater Restoration (or Heal) without a spell slot or material component once per long rest. So helping out the Berserker is still possible.

[EdenIndustries]

5) Infinite Healing. With Spell Mastery, you can pick up Healing Word for 1d4+8 (10.5), as a bonus action, at will.

How are you managing to get Healing Word for Spell Mastery? Your Spell Mastery spells have to be Wizard spells in your spellbook, right? Aren't you getting Healing Word as a Cleric spell, not a Wizard spell?

[LudicSavant]

How are you managing to get Healing Word for Spell Mastery? Your Spell Mastery spells have to be Wizard spells in your spellbook, right? Aren't you getting Healing Word as a Cleric spell, not a Wizard spell?

Mark of Healing makes the following things available as Wizard spells:

1st cure wounds, healing word
2nd lesser restoration, prayer of healing
3rd aura of vitality, mass healing word
4th aura of purity, aura of life
5th greater restoration

[EdenIndustries]

Mark of Healing makes the following things available as Wizard spells:

1st cure wounds, healing word
2nd lesser restoration, prayer of healing
3rd aura of vitality, mass healing word
4th aura of purity, aura of life
5th greater restoration

Got it, thanks! Geez that's a powerful set of additional spells for the wizard...

[Klorox]

unfortunately exhaustion is only removed by greater restoration which is a much higher level spell and has a costly material component that is consumed.

Aww crap, you're right. Alchemist still sucks then.

Ask and ye shall receive!

Herein are collected some builds that were made in response to advice threads and the like. Since these were responses to specific questions, I have tried to summarize the context for each. All of them are good from level 1-20 and can perform in all 3 pillars of play.

Hopefully these help provide people with some ideas for fun and viable builds. Enjoy!

Build 1: Celestial Generalist
This is a jack of all trades build highlighting the versatility of the Celestial Warlock.

I love this build.

A few questions:

Did you just go vhuman for the moderately armored feat and boost CHA from there? Or is warcaster more optimal first?

Would it work with half elf, and maybe mix elven accuracy in there?

Does the build “work” for levels 1 and 2, before you make your pact? I assume it would work alright as a basic warlock, but I’ve never actually played one.

Thanks!

[LudicSavant]

Got it, thanks! Geez that's a powerful set of additional spells for the wizard...

Yes indeed it is.

I love this build.

A few questions:

Did you just go vhuman for the moderately armored feat and boost CHA from there? Or is warcaster more optimal first?

Yes. I take Moderately Armored at 1, Cha at 4 and 8, Warcaster at 12. You can opt for Warcaster at 4 and Cha at 8 and 12, too. Either way.

I feel Moderately Armored is more important because it's a considerable defensive bump, and it helps your Concentration too (get hit less, lose Concentration less).

Would it work with half elf, and maybe mix elven accuracy in there?

Half-Elf is a good race for Warlock. You just would have to wait longer for your feats.

Does the build “work” for levels 1 and 2, before you make your pact? I assume it would work alright as a basic warlock, but I’ve never actually played one.

Sure does. It's basically a basic Warlock with higher AC and some emergency healing, at that point.

[Yakmala]

2) Conventional Healing Staples + Disciple of Life.
The Mark of Healing expands your spell list, allowing you to get all of the following as Wizard spells:

1st cure wounds, healing word
2nd lesser restoration, prayer of healing
3rd aura of vitality, mass healing word
4th aura of purity, aura of life
5th greater restoration

So, you get Healing Word, Cure Wounds, Lesser Restoration, Greater Restoration, Mass Healing Word, and Prayer of Healing… pretty much all the Cleric standbys… except you can stack them with the Wizard’s superior resource and action economy advantages, and of course Disciple of Life.[/LIST]

This is fantastic and almost makes me want to pump the brakes on my current Oracle of War character and head in this direction!

[1Pirate]

I love this build.

A few questions:

Did you just go vhuman for the moderately armored feat and boost CHA from there? Or is warcaster more optimal first?

Would it work with half elf, and maybe mix elven accuracy in there?

Does the build “work” for levels 1 and 2, before you make your pact? I assume it would work alright as a basic warlock, but I’ve never actually played one.

Thanks!

I played this build(with some adjustments to fit the setting and party composition) extensively in a longer campaign(so I'm clearly more qualified to discuss it than the creator).

1. If your DM is a little more of a stickler for components(like mine was) you'll want to pick up Warcaster at 4("I cast Eldritch Blast!" "Ah so you're dropping your shield then?" "Uh, no I..." "Ok, you were going to let your club go then? All right You'll lose Shillelagh though." "No, no, no wait!").

2. Moderately Armored is a pretty key part of the build since it gets your defenses up early(not only armor, but that Dex point too). I actually caught my DM off guard the first time the BBEG ordered his mooks to take out the "squishy" healer. None of them hit("Wait, a 17 misses you?") and I started smoking them with Green Flame Blade. At levels 1 and 2, that's what will set you apart from the basic warlock.

3. Unless you're starting at 12 or have an odd stat, Elven Accuracy isn't going to be worth delaying the feats IMHO. This build is more than just Hex, EB, repeat. A lot of the power comes from the various synergies, like Repelling Blasting enemies into your Guardian of Faith/Sickening Radiance/Flaming Sphere/Wall of Fire, Counterspelling Evard's Black Tentacles with a shield in your off hand, and healing your paladin buddy from 30 feet away and then Thunderstepping the actual Squishy away from the horde of mooks surrounding them. You'll be wanting those extra Charisma points before triple advantage.

[Skylivedk]

Huge fan of the healing Wizard! Especially the use of transmuter (whom I had personally relegated to the dark recesses of my mind) and having a good reason to play a Halfling Wizard.

I don't know if you like to make it even better as a guide. If you do, I'd recommend page references to some of the lesser known parts (ie the skill uses in XgtE and maybe the Mark of Healing itself). Regardless I'm a fan and could see myself play this as my next character... That or the Arcana cleric.

Cheers and thank you!

[bendking]

Build 10: The Jorasco Physician

Man, I never would have expected a healing Wizard. Great build.
Also, Mark of Healing is ridiculous!

[LudicSavant]

Treantmonk's build looks like a severe downgrade from LudicSavant's.

Posted this in another thread. Essentially an elusive glass iron cannon who dishes out buckets of damage while simultaneously doing quite a lot to protect teammates from harm and lock down foes.

Build 11: The Ancestral Avenger

"I've got friends on the other side. You, on the other hand, seem to have made many enemies there."

When I saw the Echo Knight class, my first thought was 'you know, as an Ancestral Guardian I always felt it'd be cool if grandpa could kick someone's @#$ directly.' Well, with Echo Knight, that flavor becomes easy! I built this guy as a sort of martial voodoo priest who summons vengeful spirits from smoke and mist, and seems to slip in and out of that mist themselves, disappearing and reappearing somewhere else.

This build aims to combine a bunch of mechanics that complement and cover each others' weaknesses in order to become more than the sum of its parts. You'll see what I mean.

VHuman Echo Knight 5 / Ancestral Guardian 3 / Echo X
Stats: Str 16 / Con 16 / Dex 14 / Wis 10
ASIs: Sentinel @1, GWM @4, Str +2@9, Str +2@11, Alert@15, Res(Wis) @17, Lucky@19

Sentinel is going to be pulling quadruple duty here. First, it'll be preventing people from moving away from your echo. Second, you'll have far more freedom to position for its 'make a reaction attack if an ally within 5 feet of you is attacked' feature since you don't actually have to stand in melee -- not to mention that you can threaten movement-halting OAs from multiple positions at once. Third, unlike a normal Sentinel-user, the movement restriction is actually protecting you from melee attacks, in addition to your allies. The synergy is just great, here.

After that, GWM is nice because we get to use it without many of its usual disadvantages, since we don't actually need to be in melee to use it. Oh sure, we're sacrificing the AC of a shield, but the enemy has to get past your echo and your allies (who become tanky themselves from the Ancestral Guardian mark) in order to get to you, and you can use cover and the like, so it works out. This added safety also means that you can spam Reckless Attack, which further synergizes with GWM (both for the accuracy, and for getting the bonus action attack proc more often). I'm not one to put GWM on tank builds typically, but in this case I think I can make an exception due to just how much the kit synergizes.

We also want to take the Great Weapon Fighting style, since it adds a good chunk of damage if you have lots of attacks (which we do) and a high crit rate (which we also do, thanks to the relatively freedom with which this build can spam Reckless).

Let's say you're level 8. In a single round, you can potentially Action Surge for 6 Reckless GWM attacks, plus a 46% chance of a 7th (from one of those Reckless attacks being a crit and triggering GWM's extra attack), plus the chance of getting a 7th from reducing something to 0HP (a good chance, given how much you're dishing out), plus a solid chance of an 8th from a Sentinel attack (either from the enemy hitting someone next to you, or from trying to walk away from you or your echo). And all of these attacks get the rage and GWF style bonuses. That's 6-8 Raging GWM/GWF attacks, all with Advantage, at tier 2. Which, in case you're curious, is around 100 DPR against AC 15, and yes that's with accounting for miss chance (and crit chance, GWF rerolls, etc). ~108.6 DPR vs AC15 if you get all 8 attacks (with the reaction lacking Advantage). Your at-will damage is similarly well above par, thanks to Reckless GWM/GWF attacks and reaction attacks. And again, this is all at just level 8.

But giant piles of burst and at-will damage is just a taste of what you bring to the table. Your control is multifaceted.
- You can mark 1 enemy with Ancestors, which basically makes allies considerably tankier than Bear-barians against that enemy.
- You can lock down or punish another enemy with Sentinel.
- You can lock down yet another enemy by Grappling/Proning them with Advantage (in fact, you can grapple as many people as you have hands available). You have lots of attacks to use for this, making you a highly effective grappler.
- You are decent at clearing swarms due to your high number of accurate attacks and the fact that you get an extra one when reducing someone to zero. "Dead" is a really great CC status effect, don't let anyone tell you otherwise. And after you clear the mooks, you will often still have enough attacks left over to use some lockdown on the big guy.
- You can block some attacks with Shadow Martyr.
- Enemies can attack your echo, sure, but think of it this way -- if you could use a bonus action to negate 1 or more attacks, that'd be pretty good, right? And it very well might be more than one attack -- your Echo has disadvantage to be hit thanks to Ancestral Protectors! Yep, that's right, the wording's compatible even though the Echo's not a creature!
- Unlike a normal GWM or Sentinel user, you can actually kite, and do all kinds of combos with hazard / control casters to boot. This has a ton of potential for party combos.
- Also unlike a normal GWM user, you're fairly resistant to being CCed yourself, thanks to your ability to teleport all over the place.

Your main weakness is going to be mental saving throws, so at higher levels we start reinforcing that a bit via Res(Wis) (it's stronger the later you take it), Indomitable, and eventually Lucky. Though ideally when you see something that has nasty mental saves, your first defense should be to try and kill it ASAP with your big fat burst damage. Maybe even put yourself out of line of sight so that it can't attack you (you can even Recklessly Attack to cancel out your Disadvantage from being unable to see the enemy. Or you could even have an Unseen Servant holding a mirror or something -- get creative, start Thinking With Echoes). Or create so much value in general that your team has more resources for countering spells and charms and such. Anyways, this is why I took Alert before Lucky; if you go first you can get into a favorable position or possibly just delete a troublesome foe outright.

Variants/Notes:
- You can take the Defense style instead of the GWF style, sacrificing a little offense for a little defense.
- You have a fair bit of flexibility in the order of your progression here. Going Ancestral 4 at any time can get you an ASI earlier if desired, at the cost of getting some fighter features later (and losing access to the second Action Surge at 20). You also can take EK 6, 8, or 11 prior to jumping into AG if desired (especially if you want Strength boosts earlier). You can also delay the 3rd level of AG for a bit after getting the 2nd if you want Fighter ASIs slightly sooner. Like I said, flexibility.
- One of the advantages of not taking strength boosts right away is that it gives you a little time to see if you're in the sort of campaign where you might be able to get your hands on Strength-replacing magic items (like Giant Belts and such), and if you do so, you are then freed up to take other excellent feats.
- The reason I don't take Barbarian as my level 1 class is because it makes your tier 1 progression better not to. If your campaign is starting at level 6+, this becomes irrelevant, and you can take Barbarian as your level 1 class for +2 max HP.
- The reality of Echo Barbarian builds is that they require Strength (for Reckless Attack), Dexterity (since you can't rage in heavy armor), and Constitution (for Echo Knight features), which limits our ability to meet multiclassing requirements without seriously impacting the build... unless of course you roll high for stats. In that case, you can improve this build further via multiclassing -- for example, Hexblade 1 (requires Cha 13) and Gloomstalker 3 (requires Wis 13) are both very powerful and synergistic additions which further add to the voodoo flavor. The only reason I don't take them is because of the pesky multiclassing stat requirements.
- The last 3 (or 4, if you take Ancestral 4 instead of Fighter 17) feats can be switched out as desired. If you can afford it in terms of stats (since it needs 13 Wis or Int), I really like the Ritual Caster feat, both mechanically and for the flavor. Simply boosting your Constitution is a decent option too, since it scales Echo Knight features (in addition to the usual benefits).

___

Let me know what you think.

[da newt]

For your AA:

If you dipped 2 lvls of Warlock you could grab Mask of Many Faces and you and your Echo would look exactly the same - sort of low cost 24/7 Mirror Image ...

BTW - I'm eagerly awaiting your soul knife build.

[Lysimarchos]

Posted this in another thread. Essentially an elusive glass iron cannon who dishes out buckets of damage while simultaneously doing quite a lot to protect teammates from harm and lock down foes.

Build 11: The Ancestral Avenger

"I've got friends on the other side. You, on the other hand, seem to have made many enemies there."

When I saw the Echo Knight class, my first thought was 'you know, as an Ancestral Guardian I always felt it'd be cool if grandpa could kick someone's @#$ directly.' Well, with Echo Knight, that flavor becomes easy! I built this guy as a sort of martial voodoo priest who summons vengeful spirits from smoke and mist, and seems to slip in and out of that mist themselves, disappearing and reappearing somewhere else.

This build aims to combine a bunch of mechanics that complement and cover each others' weaknesses in order to become more than the sum of its parts. You'll see what I mean.

VHuman Echo Knight 5 / Ancestral Guardian 3 / Echo X
Stats: Str 16 / Con 16 / Dex 14 / Wis 10
ASIs: Sentinel @1, GWM @4, Str +2@9, Str +2@11, Alert@15, Res(Wis) @17, Lucky@19

Sentinel is going to be pulling quadruple duty here. First, it'll be preventing people from moving away from your echo. Second, you'll have far more freedom to position for its 'make a reaction attack if an ally within 5 feet of you is attacked' feature since you don't actually have to stand in melee -- not to mention that you can threaten Sentinel OAs from multiple positions at once. Third, unlike a normal Sentinel-user, the movement restriction is actually protecting you from melee attacks, in addition to your allies. The synergy is just great, here.

After that, GWM is nice because we get to use it without many of its usual disadvantages, since we don't actually need to be in melee to use it. Oh sure, we're sacrificing the AC of a shield, but the enemy has to get past your echo and your allies (who become tanky themselves from the Ancestral Guardian mark) in order to get to you, and you can use cover and the like, so it works out. This added safety also means that you can spam Reckless Attack, which further synergizes with GWM (both for the accuracy, and for getting the bonus action attack proc more often). I'm not one to put GWM on tank builds typically, but in this case I think I can make an exception due to just how much the kit synergizes.

We also want to take the Great Weapon Fighting style, since it adds a good chunk of damage if you have lots of attacks (which we do) and a high crit rate (which we also do, thanks to the relatively freedom with which this build can spam Reckless).

Let's say you're level 8. In a single round, you can potentially Action Surge for 6 Reckless GWM attacks, plus a 46% chance of a 7th (from one of those Reckless attacks being a crit and triggering GWM's extra attack), plus the chance of getting a 7th from reducing something to 0HP (a good chance, given how much you're dishing out), plus a solid chance of an 8th from a Sentinel attack (either from the enemy hitting someone next to you, or from trying to walk away from you or your echo). And all of these attacks get the rage and GWF style bonuses. That's 6-8 Raging GWM/GWF attacks, all with Advantage, at tier 2. Which, in case you're curious, is around 100 DPR against AC 15, and yes that's with accounting for miss chance (and crit chance, GWF rerolls, etc). ~108.6 DPR vs AC15 if you get all 8 attacks (with the reaction lacking Advantage). Your at-will damage is similarly well above par, thanks to Reckless GWM/GWF attacks and reaction attacks. And again, this is all at just level 8.

But giant piles of burst and at-will damage is just a taste of what you bring to the table. Your control is multifaceted.
- You can mark 1 enemy with Ancestors, which basically makes allies considerably tankier than Bear-barians against that enemy.
- You can lock down or punish another enemy with Sentinel.
- You can lock down yet another enemy by Grappling/Proning them with Advantage (in fact, you can grapple as many people as you have hands available). You have lots of attacks to use for this, making you a highly effective grappler.
- You are decent at clearing swarms due to your high number of accurate attacks and the fact that you get an extra one when reducing someone to zero. "Dead" is a really great CC status effect, don't let anyone tell you otherwise. And after you clear the mooks, you will often still have enough attacks left over to use some lockdown on the big guy.
- You can block some attacks with Shadow Martyr.
- Enemies can attack your echo, sure, but think of it this way -- if you could use a bonus action to negate 1 or more attacks, that'd be pretty good, right? And it very well might be more than one attack -- your Echo has disadvantage to be hit thanks to Ancestral Protectors! Yep, that's right, the wording's compatible even though the Echo's not a creature!
- Unlike a normal GWM or Sentinel user, you can actually kite, and do all kinds of combos with hazard / control casters to boot. This has a ton of potential for party combos.
- Also unlike a normal GWM user, you're fairly resistant to being CCed yourself, thanks to your ability to teleport all over the place.

Your main weakness is going to be mental saving throws, so at higher levels we start reinforcing that a bit via Res(Wis) (it's stronger the later you take it), Indomitable, and eventually Lucky. Though ideally when you see something that has nasty mental saves, your first defense should be to try and kill it ASAP with your big fat burst damage. Maybe even put yourself out of line of sight so that it can't attack you (you can even Recklessly Attack to cancel out your Disadvantage from being unable to see the enemy. Or you could even have an Unseen Servant holding a mirror or something -- get creative, start Thinking With Echoes). Or create so much value in general that your team has more resources for countering spells and charms and such. Anyways, this is why I took Alert before Lucky; if you go first you can get into a favorable position or possibly just delete a troublesome foe outright.

Variants/Notes:
- You can take the Defense style instead of the GWF style, sacrificing a little offense for a little defense.
- You have a fair bit of flexibility in the order of your progression here. Going Ancestral 4 at any time can get you an ASI earlier if desired, at the cost of getting some fighter features later (and losing access to the second Action Surge at 20). You also can take EK 6, 8, or 11 prior to jumping into AG if desired (especially if you want Strength boosts earlier). You can also delay the 3rd level of AG for a bit after getting the 2nd if you want Fighter ASIs slightly sooner. Like I said, flexibility.
- One of the advantages of not taking strength boosts right away is that it gives you a little time to see if you're in the sort of campaign where you might be able to get your hands on Strength-replacing magic items (like Giant Belts and such), and if you do so, you are then freed up to take other excellent feats.
- The reason I don't take Barbarian as my level 1 class is because it makes your tier 1 progression better not to. If your campaign is starting at level 6+, this becomes irrelevant, and you can take Barbarian as your level 1 class for +2 max HP.
- The reality of Echo Barbarian builds is that they require Strength (for Reckless Attack), Dexterity (since you can't rage in heavy armor), and Constitution (for Echo Knight features), which limits our ability to meet multiclassing requirements without seriously impacting the build... unless of course you roll high for stats. In that case, you can improve this build further via multiclassing -- for example, Hexblade 1 (requires Cha 13) and Gloomstalker 3 (requires Wis 13) are both very powerful and synergistic additions which further add to the voodoo flavor. The only reason I don't take them is because of the pesky multiclassing stat requirements.
- The last 3 (or 4, if you take Ancestral 4 instead of Fighter 17) feats can be switched out as desired. If you can afford it in terms of stats (since it needs 13 Wis or Int), I really like the Ritual Caster feat, both mechanically and for the flavor. Simply boosting your Constitution is a decent option too, since it scales Echo Knight features (in addition to the usual benefits).

___

Let me know what you think.

Since you didn't take PAM, is this build better with a halberd/glaive or a greatsword/greataxe/maul? Also, what do you think about Tunnel Fighter?

[LudicSavant]

Since you didn't take PAM, is this build better with a halberd/glaive or a greatsword/greataxe/maul?

Maul > Greatsword >>> Greataxe. Bludgeoning is a slightly better damage type than slashing, and Greataxe is just plain mathematically inferior.

The reason I didn't go for PAM here is because you already have a lot to do with your bonus actions and reactions. It's a bonus action to rage. It's a bonus action to make an echo. It's a bonus action to Second Wind. It's a bonus action to make the GWM extra attack (which you can trigger fairly often due to your high number of Advantaged attacks). It's a reaction to make an OA, or to use the Sentinel reaction. And you already are waiting a bit to max your Strength.

With 8 attacks and Advantage, you have a ~56% chance of getting a bonus action attack from GWM (plus whatever chance you have of reducing something to 0 on your turn). With 3 attacks and advantage, you have a ~26.5% chance.

This, plus the other competition for your bonus actions and reactions, the lower damage die of reach weapons (multiplied over numerous attacks), and the opportunity cost of an ASI, means that PAM might not actually be improving your DPR at all.

Yeah, with PAM you can do some mean things with Reach+Sentinel+PAM making it even harder for people with only 5-foot range attacks to get to you, but those enemies tend to be the least of your worries as it is.

[da newt]

I'm not sure, but I think RAW is that the Echo can only attack when you take the attack action - therefor it cannot attack using a bonus action ...

Also, I don't think PAM's extra trigger for a Opp Att applies to your Echo (or Sentinel's) ...

If I'm wrong - please let me know (and include references). I'm new to Echo Knight.

[LudicSavant]

I'm not sure, but I think RAW is that the Echo can only attack when you take the attack action - therefor it cannot attack using a bonus action ...

As far as I can tell, this is correct.

[ftafp]

The Underwater Basket Weaver

Note: this build was initially inspired by u/auxlang's gorgeous Underwater Basket Weaver Turned Adventurer, but because of the noble tradition of underwater basket weaving's reputation as a joke as well as its real-world cultural roots in Inuit artifice I decided Sokka was a more appropriate image for this character. Let's begin

Half Sea elf Artificer 2 / Thief 3 / Conjuror 3 / Alchemist X
Stats 8 Str, 13+1 Dex, 14 Con, 15+1 Int, 12 Wis, 10+2 Cha
ASIs: Int +2 @ 10, Int +2 @ 14, Warcaster @ 16, Lucky @ 20


What is this designed for: Underwater basket weaving has a memetic infamy in DnD second only to the Gazebo. With it bearing the ironic title of Most Broken Skill in DnD, I wanted to create a character who looked useless at first glance, and second, and third, but was in actuality quite broken in the hands of a clever player. More to the point, I wanted to create a character who embraced the concept as flavorfully as possible.

How it accomplishes that: From the start of his journey, Sokka (I'm not good with names) would be an experienced basket-weaver. Baskets are vital tools for coastal human communities as they're light, don't retain water, and are perfect for gathering shellfish and seaweed among other things. The willow switches used to make wicker baskets must be kept wet while crafting in order to keep them supple, but dry quickly when exposed to air. Someone like Sokka who can breath under water never needs to worry about their wicker breaking, so he has a distinct advantage over the land races.

Wicker as it happens is a utilitarian material. Being light, durable and flexible, Sokka can use it to make armor and shields which he's capable of using. Additionally it can make a functional weapon, and by applying his brains, Sokka use a basket on the end of pole as a better, more accurate sling that uses his Int modifier at low levels thanks to magic stone. It also means that as he takes levels of Rogue later, Sokka can apply his sneak attack damage to his attacks.

At level 2, Sokka gains access to arcane infusions, which he can use for Baskets of Holding and Alchemy Baskets. One might wonder how a basket could make a functional jug, and the secret it lining the inside with pitch or river clay, rendering the basket waterproof. He had to go through a lot of baskets before he figured that one out, but now it works wonders

Level 5 is where Sokka gets Fast Hands. This lets him extract items from his basket and use them as a bonus action, which is a pretty sweet deal considering the two baskets of acid he gets from his alchemy basket each day use the Use an Object action to throw rather than an attack action. He can also do a lot with the environment at this level. It's a sweet gig.

Now, let's talk about wizard for a minute. Everyone knows that wizards need spellbooks to record their spells in, but not every spellbook has to be a literal book. Sokka for example can weave colored thread through the outside of his baskets to write on them, making his basket function as a spellbasket. Weaving spells into an already potent infusion can make for some pretty useful enchantments, and by level 7 Sokka can conjure just about any tiny object he wants from his baskets and use them as a bonus action. That includes acid, but also tools like poisons, explosives, shattersitcks, lycanthrope blood, all sorts of things from various adventures and sourcebooks that are nonmagical. He'll take one more level of wizard for second level spells and the it's back to artificer

By level 9, Sokka can now create potions that he stores in his baskets. He can use these potions as a bonus action to get various concentration-free buffs. Neato.

Keep going now until we reach level 15. This is where things really kick off. Sokka can animate his ammo basket with Tiny Servant along as well as two of the pebbles in it at the start of every day and order them to follow him and throw the rocks his familiar touches at whoever it points to (I did mention the familiar right?) this means that every turn he can cast magic stone as a bonus action and get three free preprogrammed attacks from his tiny servants, all of which add his int modifier.

By the end of this, Sokka has proven his worth as an actually sort of capable adventurer. Now if only I knew how to progress him better. shame on me